Team Fortress 2 free to play after tomorrow's big update

The Team Fortress 2 "War" event marches on as Soldiers receive a new weapon today. The Direct Hit rocket launcher was created for Soldiers "who have mastered the art of shotting at their targets instead of vaguely near them," with a 70% smaller blast radius, 80% faster rockets that do 25% more damage and are guaranteed to mini-crit on mid-air targets.

This follows yesterday's Demoman update, which brought a Close Combat Kit consisting of a sword and shield with mixed effects. The haunted Eyelander sword decapitates enemies when killed and decreases the Demoman's maximum health. Meanwhile, the Chargin' Targe shield replaces the sticky bomb launcher, protects against fire (+50%) and blast (+65%) damage, and can be used as a stabbing weapon.

The War has pitted Solider and Demoman players against each other, with the winner receiving a new (undisclosed) unlockable weapon. The event will end tomorrow night, and the Soldier is currently leading the Demoman's casualty count (4,923,531 versus 5,056,134). In addition to the new exclusive weapon, tomorrow's update will bring a crafting system, new maps, achievements, "surprises" and the remaining weapon unlocks.

To celebrate, Valve has announced that Team Fortress 2 will be free to play for four days immediately after the update (Thursday through Sunday). If interested, you can preload the game now. It's also worth noting that a new TF2 comic was introduced yesterday and today.